“He had kind of a smirk on his face,” Pickell said. “He told me he was nervous about all the cameras and I told him, ‘You better get used to it, because that’s how it’s going to be.’”

Leyton said he will work with authorities in Virginia, who believe Abuelazam could also be responsible for a 2009 homicide there, but that he is focused most on justice for the victims in Genesee County.

“I have 14 victims, five of whom have died,” he said. “I want to make sure we have justice. (This case) is really all about the victims. They have to know that we care and we do.”

He also is suspected of three stabbings in Virginia and one in Ohio, none of which were fatal.

The case sparked a nationwide manhunt for the killer, who lured his victims close by asking for directions, usually attacking black men in the dead of night.

Ryan Garza/The Flint JournalSuspected serial stabber Elias Abuelazam is escorted off a plane after landing at Bishop Airport in Flint on Thursday to be transported to the Genesee County Jail. Two Michigan State Police cruisers are escorting the van.

National, state and local media packed Flint District Court to see him arraigned Thursday afternoon — less than three hours after returning to Michigan — on a charge of assault with intent to murder for the July 27 stabbing of Antwoine Marshall, 26.

Leyton asked that a bond of $10 million be set, but Perry said there would be no bond because of the seriousness of the charges.

Morley and co-counsel Edwar Zeineh briefly met with their client before the arraignment.

“It’s very serious and he understands it’s serious,” Morley said.

Morley characterized his meeting as “not a substantive conversation.” Morley will review police reports and other documents to defend his client.

E’twan Wilson, 17, of Flint, who said he was the victim in the Aug. 1 stabbing on Cloverlawn near Pierson, said he hopes to testify against Abuelazam.

“It’s something I have to do,” he said. “The victims that died, they didn’t have that chance.”

Wilson went to district court Thursday hoping to see Abuelazam in person, but left disappointed because the 33-year-old suspect appeared only on a television screen, on a live video feed from the county jail.

“I wanted to see him and I wanted him to see me,” Wilson said.

Like most of the attacks, Wilson was stabbed after a man stopped him to ask for directions. The vast majority of attacks linked to the serial killer were on black men, although officials have said they do not believe the stabbings were racially motivated.

“I turned away from him and he started attacking,” said Wilson, who has a long scar down his chest.

Ryan Garza/The Flint JournalEtwan Wilson, 17, of Flint, shows off his scars that he claims are from the suspected serial stabber Elias Abuelazam to the media after his arraignment in Judge Nathaniel Perry III's court on Thursday.

He will be locked in his 8-feet by 13-feet jail cell for 23 hours a day, with one hour to speak to his attorney, see a doctor or stretch his legs in the open space between the solitary confinement cells.

Abuelazam is being kept in solitary confinement for his own safety, Pickell said.

“He’s scarred a lot of lives,” Pickell said. “There’s a lot of dislike and animosity in Flint and Genesee County.”

Abuelazam will next appear at a pre-trial hearing at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 31.